12.1 Business Auto Coverage Form and Covered Auto Symbols

The Business Auto Coverage Form (CA 00 01)

The Business Auto Coverage Form, ISO form number CA 00 01, is the standard policy used to insure cars, trucks, trailers, and vans owned, hired, or used by a business. It is the commercial counterpart to the Personal Auto Policy. Combined with the Business Auto Declarations (CA DS 03) and the Common Policy Conditions (IL 00 17), it forms the complete contract.

The form is divided into five sections: Section I — Covered Autos, Section II — Covered Autos Liability, Section III — Physical Damage, Section IV — Business Auto Conditions, and Section V — Definitions. A business may own zero, five, or five hundred vehicles, so the form cannot simply list "your car." Instead it solves the problem with a symbol system.

How Covered Auto Symbols Work

Next to each coverage on the declarations, the underwriter enters one or more covered-auto designation symbols (1 through 9, plus 19). A coverage applies ONLY to autos that fit the symbol shown beside it. This lets the insurer grant broad liability but limit physical damage to scheduled vehicles.

The Symbol Table

Key trap: Symbol 1 is the only symbol that automatically covers an auto acquired AFTER the policy begins with no reporting requirement. Symbol 2 also auto-covers newly acquired owned autos. Symbol 7 does NOT — additions to a Symbol 7 schedule get only the 30-day newly-acquired window, and only if the insurer already insures all owned autos.

Which Symbols Pair with Which Coverages

Not every symbol can be used with every coverage. The exam tests this constantly.

• Liability can use almost any symbol; Symbol 1 (Any Auto) is most common because it reaches owned, hired, and non-owned exposures at once.
• Physical Damage (Comprehensive, Collision, Specified Causes of Loss) cannot use Symbol 1. The insurer must know which specific autos it will pay to repair, so Physical Damage uses Symbol 7, 8, or 2.
• Hired auto physical damage uses Symbol 8 and is usually written as a separate limit because the insured does not own the vehicle.

Combining Symbols

A small contractor that wants broad liability but physical damage only on its two owned trucks would use Symbol 1 for liability and Symbol 7 for physical damage, scheduling the two trucks. A larger fleet might use Symbols 2, 8, and 9 together — owned + hired + non-owned — which gives nearly the same liability breadth as Symbol 1 while allowing physical damage to attach to the owned (Symbol 2) autos.

The Nine Covered-Auto Symbols

The Business Auto Coverage Form (CA 00 01) assigns coverage by symbol entered next to each coverage on the declarations. Memorizing the symbols is one of the highest-yield commercial-auto exam tasks:

Symbol 1 gives the broadest liability protection because it covers any auto, including newly acquired and non-owned vehicles automatically.

Pairing Symbols with Coverages

Not every symbol works with every coverage, and the exam exploits this:

• Liability can use any symbol, including 1 (any auto).
• Physical damage (comprehensive/collision) can never use symbol 1 — you cannot insure the physical damage of an auto you do not own; it requires symbols 7 (scheduled) or 8 (hired).
• Hired-auto physical damage uses symbol 8; non-owned liability uses symbol 9.

Quick Answer: Symbol 1 = broadest liability; physical damage requires owned/scheduled (7) or hired (8) symbols — never symbol 1.

A contractor wanting the most complete liability typically uses symbol 1 for liability and symbol 7 for physical damage on its scheduled trucks, adding 8 and 9 for hired and non-owned exposures.

Symbol Strategy and a Worked Combination

Because symbols are assigned per coverage, an insured builds a coverage profile by mixing them. A typical contractor wanting maximum protection uses symbol 1 for liability (any auto, including future and non-owned), symbol 7 for physical damage on its scheduled trucks (you cannot physically insure autos you do not own), symbol 8 for hired-auto physical damage, and symbol 9 for non-owned liability where employees drive personal cars on company errands.

Worked example: a landscaping company shows symbol 1 for liability, symbol 7 for collision/comprehensive on its three trucks, and symbols 8 and 9 to cover rented equipment trailers and employees' personal vehicles. When an employee's own car causes an accident on a job run, symbol 9 responds for the employer; when a scheduled truck is in a collision, symbol 7 pays its repair. Trap: symbol 1 looks like it covers everything, but it is liability-only — physical damage always needs symbol 2/7/8 because you cannot insure the physical loss of a vehicle you neither own nor have hired.